“The Church without frontiers, Mother to all, spreads throughout the world a culture of acceptance and solidarity, in which no one is seen as useless, out of place, or disposable.” Pope Francis Message for the 2015 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, September 3, 2014

In this Year of Mercy, how are we providing shelter to the homeless? How are we caring for the immigrants among us?  Do our undocumented brothers and sisters feel  "a culture of acceptance and solidarity"?

Currently, all public colleges and universities in Connecticut set aside a proportion of tuition revenue to be used as ‘institutional aid’ to assist students with a demonstrated financial need. Undocumented Connecticut students, without immigration status, pay full tuition. They contribute towards this institutional aid, yet Connecticut does not allow undocumented students access to receive institutional aid.

After graduating from our state’s high schools, higher education remains out of reach. It doesn’t have to be this way! Our legislators have the power to change the way institutional aid is given out, so that undocumented students are able to get access to the scholarships their tuition helps fund.

For more information about how to take action and stand in solidarity with the undocumented students, check out the ct4adream.

Hundreds of immigrant women and children of all ages are being held, often for months, in the expanding South Texas Detention Center. It is operated by the U.S. Department of homeland Security near the small town of Dilley, 85 miles from the Texas-Mexico border between Laredo and San Antonio. Often fleeing from violence in their home countries, they now are detained without criminal charges, uncertain of their rights, and with few resources.

 
CLINIC, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, has extended an invitation to caring individuals and communities to join them in writing letters to the women and children, letting them know that they are not alone. 

In response, adults and children gathered recently at St. Augustine Church in Hartford for an evening of letter writing, invited by OCSJM's Arturo Iriarte and other Hispanic PSM leaders. The group composed over 30 letters, which will be sent to CLINIC for distribution. 

Visit the CLINIC website to learn how you and your community can participate in this show of support and encouragement, and to learn more about the situation.